1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a control system for a terminal device with a switch, such as a ceiling fan or lighting fixture. More particularly, the present invention relates to controlling a terminal device connected to a wall or ceiling by gestures. Additionally, the present invention relates to using gestures to control a terminal device operated by a switch and managing power consumption of the control system.
2. Description of Related Art Including Information Disclosed Under 37 CFR 1.97 and 37 CFR 1.98
With the development of electronic technology, output devices or terminal devices are used daily and are increasingly integrated with interactive features in order to enhance convenience and functionality. Users now can use a control system or controller, such as a remote control device, to adjust lights, curtains, a thermostat etc. Existing control systems include distinct remote control devices dedicated to and associated with the particular output or terminal device to be controlled. Remote control devices can also be associated with more than one terminal device, such as a master controller for electronics and a touchscreen computer tablet made integral with furniture or walls to control lighting and room temperature. Any computer with an interface (keyboard, mouse, touch pad or touchscreen) can be a remote control device for multiple terminal devices with smart technology. Mobile phones are also known to be enabled for controlling terminal devices, such as home security cameras and door locks. Another existing control system involves voice recognition technology.
Existing control systems have limitations. Each output or terminal device typically is associated with a respective remote control device, such as a controller for the cable box, a controller for the DVD player, and a controller for the sound mixer. An excessive number of controllers is needed in order to remotely control multiple devices. Furthermore, an individual controller is often misplaced or left in locations that are not readily accessible to the user. The user must search for a controller or change locations to access the controller. Additionally, voice recognition technology often requires cumbersome training sessions to calibrate for pronunciations and accents of each particular user. Furthermore, voice recognition technology is often impaired by background noise resulting in difficulties for that control system to recognize verbal commands. Additionally, the sound produced by voice commands may be obtrusive in many environments such as in a room where others are sleeping, or in a room while watching a movie.
For remote control devices associated with multiple terminal devices, for example, computer tablets with a touchscreen and computers with touchpads, remote control devices can be built into or integrated into furniture. Smart tables have been built with touchscreens that are able to receive touch-based gestures. In the case of integrating these touchscreen or touch pads into surfaces of structures such as furniture, the cost of the structure is significantly increased due to design modifications required to accommodate the remote control device, and the cost of the components and hardware. Furthermore, aesthetics are often affected. Appearances are altered when furniture, walls and surroundings are filled with touchscreens, touchpads, and other conspicuous devices. Integration of such hardware into furniture also requires the manufacturer to modify existing designs such that the hardware can be accommodated into the structure.
Prior art manual control systems range from buttons on a television remote controller to a touchscreen of a mobile phone. Simple gestures of pressing dedicated buttons and complex gestures of finger motions on a touchscreen are both used to control terminal devices. Various patents and publications are available in the field of these manual control systems.
U.S. Pat. No. 8,788,978, issued to Stedman et al on Jul. 22, 2014, teaches a gesture sensitive interface for a computer. The “pinch zoom” functionality is the subject matter, so that the detection of first and second interaction points, and the relative motion between the points are detected by sensors. A variety of sensors are disclosed to define the field, including a touch screen, camera, motion sensor, and proximity sensors.
World Intellectual Property Organization Publication No. WO2013165348, published for Bess on Nov. 7, 2013, describes a system with at least three accelerometers disposed in different locations of an area with a surface to capture respective vibration data corresponding to a command tapped onto the surface by a user. A processing system receives the vibration data from each accelerometer, identifying the command and a location of the user from the vibration data. A control signal based on the command and the location is generated.
U.S. Patent Publication No. 20140225824, published for Shpunt et al on Aug. 14, 2014, discloses flexible room controls. A control apparatus includes a projector for directing first light toward a scene that includes a hand of a user in proximity to a wall of a room and to receive the first light that is reflected from the scene, and to direct second light toward the wall so as to project an image of a control device onto the wall. A processor detects hand motions within the projected field.
U.S. Patent Publication No. 20120249416, published for Maciocci et al on Oct. 4, 2012, describes another projection system with gesture identification. The projector is a unit worn on the body of the user to project onto surfaces, such as walls and tables. Spatial data is detected by a sensor array. Additional rendering operations may include tracking movements of the recognized body parts, applying a detection algorithm to the tracked movements to detect a predetermined gesture, applying a command corresponding to the detected predetermined gesture, and updating the projected images in response to the applied command.
U.S. Patent Publication No. 20100019922, published for Van Loenen on Jan. 28, 2010, is the known prior art for an interactive surface by tapping. Sound detection is filtered and interpreted either in the system to be controlled or else in the sensors themselves. The direction of movement of a hand stroking the surface can be interpreted as a command to increase or decrease a parameter, such as the sound volume level of a television, for example. Determination of the position of the user's hand is unnecessary.
In other innovative systems, a control system can convert any independent mounting surface into a controller for a terminal device. A physically separate mounting surface, such as a wall or table surface, can be used to activate and deactivate a television or light fixtures, without the user touching either appliance. The control system includes a housing engaged to a mounting surface, a sensor and microcontroller unit within the housing, a server in communication with the sensor, and a terminal device in communication with the server. The terminal device is to be controlled by gestures associated with the mounting surface. The control system further includes a server in communication with the sensor, including but not limited to wifi, Bluetooth, local area network, wired or other wireless connection. The terminal device can be an appliance, lighting fixture or climate regulator.
For a terminal device with a switch, the control of the terminal device can be very simple, such as a light switch or ceiling fan. There are only two commands: “on” and “off”, or possibly another discrete number of commands for dimming levels or three fan speeds. These terminal devices with a switch are also typically connected to a wall or ceiling. In existing systems with terminal devices with switches, a light switch is in the wall with a wired connection to the light fixture on the ceiling. There is existing infrastructure for these terminal devices with switches, such as hard wiring, direct electrical connections to power, and junction boxes or electrical boxes. The switch has a control module to toggle between “off” and “on”. The prior art control systems over-engineer solutions to control these types of terminal devices, wherein a wireless network, complex controls, and a server are used to flip a light switch. There is a need for a control system to utilize existing infrastructure of terminal devices with switches for efficiency and power regulation. There is not always a need for the technology and components of advanced control systems for terminal devices with switches, and there are available power sources and electrical connection without the need for Bluetooth or other wireless communication.
It is an object of the present invention to provide a system and method for controlling a terminal device with a switch.
It is an object of the present invention to provide a system and method to control a terminal device with a switch by gestures, including but not limited to knocks.
It is another object of the present invention to provide a system and method to be incorporated into existing infrastructure.
It is still another object of the present invention to provide a system and method to efficiently utilizing existing components in an installation.
It is still another object of the present invention to provide a system and method to retrofit terminal devices with switches for control by gestures, including but not limited to knocks.
It is another object of the present invention to provide a system and method with regulated power consumption.
It is still another object of the present invention to provide a system and method to regulate power consumption by incorporating infrastructure of an installation.
It is still another object of the present invention to provide a system and method to regulate power consumption by reducing reliance on battery power of the system.
These and other objectives and advantages of the present invention will become apparent from a reading of the attached specification.